Minding Your Mind
February 26, 2007 |
Walk into any Christian bookstore and case the shelves of books on women’s issues, family living, and patterns of leadership. You will be hard put to find little or anything written on the role of the mind or the importance of the intellect in developing and maintaining a sturdy, healthy faith in and walk with God. Go to any women’s retreat or women’s leadership conference. Speakers and seminars appealing to women’s hearts and souls and talking about spiritual disciplines abound. Discussion of women’s roles as mothers, daughters, single women, keepers of the home, and as home-schoolers dominates the teaching hours. But is there much or any focus on the importance of the mind, of the crucial role that good reading and responsible study play in its development? Is there much mention of becoming an intellectual as well as a spiritual disciple of Christ?
Posted by Caryn Rivadeneira on February 26, 2007 | Comments (33)
Women’s Ministry that Works
February 23, 2007 |
Several years ago, my close friend “Sally” began her journey toward knowing Jesus—on that same well-worn path where so many of us have met God. When she became a Christian, I was thrilled that my brave, sassy friend understood what it meant to be loved by God.
But as Sally began to know Jesus and get more deeply involved at church, I noticed something happening. To make time for all the appropriate Bible studies, small groups, and other ministries she dutifully joined, she had to drop that step class at the gym that she really loved. People from the church kept calling and asking, so she kept joining and volunteering. To make time for these commitments, she quit her extra job—the one she did for “fun money,” the one at the trendy bar and grill where so many people knew and loved her.
One day I called her to see if we could meet for coffee and catch up. Nope. Sally was too busy, and it would be another week before her church schedule opened up for me. I was hurt. I felt robbed, as if the church came and snatched Sally right out of my living room and locked her in the fellowship hall.
Continue reading...Posted by Amy Simpson on February 23, 2007 | Comments (11)
Fulfilling God-Sized Dreams
February 20, 2007 |
I remember my husband saying to me one day, “It must be tiring to be you!” He was observing my intensity, and just watching me in action made him tired. Over the years, God has taught me that even though he wants us to make our moments count, what he doesn’t want is for us to think that we can make life happen. The fact is, fallen humanity could not possibly accomplish anything of spiritual eternal value on its own. God’s Word reminds us in Isaiah 64:6: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (NIV). Jesus tells us in John 15:5-6: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (NIV).
Continue reading...Posted by Amy Simpson on February 20, 2007 | Comments (7)
Leading Our Children, Part 1
February 16, 2007 |
As women, we’re bombarded with so many models of parenting:
• The uber-mommy track: no employment until the last one turns 18.
• The uber-career track: give em’ six weeks’ attention, and then get back out there.
• The modified mommy: no employment until they’re all kindergarten graduates.
• The modified career: work part-time, school hours only, part time at home, work nights, etc.
Then there are the tracks known to cause certain kinds of insanity in both children and their mothers:
Continue reading...Posted by Amy Simpson on February 16, 2007 | Comments (26)
A Spiritual Kick in the Pants
February 13, 2007 |
Not long ago, after agreeing to address an audience of Christian leaders on the topic of staying connected to God, I immediately regretted my decision. My deep-seated misgivings did not stem from normal issues of over-commitment but from an insatiable realization that something was wrong with the idea that mature believers needed to know how to stay fresh spiritually. What gnawed at my soul was that we don’t need fresh how-to’s, but rather a proverbial kick in the pants to do the hard work of practicing spiritual disciplines. Although we cry out for more information, what we really need is more application of what we already know.
I liken it to the multi-billion dollar dieting industry, regularly promoting yet the newest fad in weight loss. Those of us who struggle with unwanted pounds are always on the lookout for some new strategy, breakthrough method, or even the ever-hoped-for magic pill that will melt the pounds away and somehow eliminate the hard work of denying ourselves and hitting the gym. In truth, there is no easy way and no one can do it for us.
Continue reading...Posted by Amy Simpson on February 13, 2007 | Comments (24)
Aren't We Always at Church?
February 8, 2007 |
My sister is a very busy woman. She has four kids (ranging from infancy to 10 years old), works part-time from home, maintains a spotless house, and manages to follow the Holy Spirit through an active and ongoing ministry to people around her.
She and her family are actively involved in their church, and she serves where she can. God has given her obvious spiritual gifts in mercy, encouragement, administration, and discernment. But most of the time, she doesn’t exercise these gifts in the church building. Instead, she more often finds herself doing ministry at home, at her kids’ school, at the park, and at Wal-Mart.
She tells me she sometimes feels guilty because she doesn’t seem to be meeting other people’s expectations. She doesn’t attend all the social events her friends do. She doesn’t teach a Sunday school class (even though she’s been asked several times). And when another couple asked her if she and her husband would lead a small group because they want to join one but don’t want to lead, she said no.
Continue reading...Posted by Amy Simpson on February 8, 2007 | Comments (24)
Witnessing from Weakness at Work
February 5, 2007 |
One of the greatest shames of my life is that never once during my first job out of college did I share the Gospel with any of the people I worked with. While my friends there certainly knew I graduated from a Christian college, went to church, and believed in God, in several years of working together that was all they knew about faith in my life. At the time, my focus was so much on learning the ins and outs of magazine publishing and meeting my earthly achievement goals (after all, this was my dream!), that I failed to see the people around me as lost souls in need of a Savior and instead saw them as people to laugh with and learn from.
Though I know I’m forgiven for this sin, to this day I can’t think of certain colleagues without wincing—and praying that they are surrounded by Christians, who, unlike me, dare share their faith at work.
Posted by Caryn Rivadeneira on February 5, 2007 | Comments (12)
Climbing the Corporate Web
February 1, 2007 |
Sally Helgeson wrote The Female Advantage in the 1990s. This was a classic, paradigm-changing book about how women’s leadership styles and gifts are changing the face of organizations. Her subsequent work, The Web of Inclusion, continued the conversation, exploring how women leaders prefer to work in flattened, inter-woven organizational structures—literally, webs of relationships. And through these webs of connection, women maximize productivity and innovation.
In The Web of Inclusion, Helgeson describes some of the common leadership practices of the successful women she researched:
“The women I studied built profoundly integrated and organic organizations in which the focus was on nurturing good relationships; in which the niceties of hierarchical rank and distinction played little part; and in which lines of communication were multiple, open, and diffuse. I noted that the women tended to put themselves at the center of their organizations rather than at the top, emphasizing both accessibility and equality, and that they labored constantly to include people in their decision-making. This had the effect of undermining the boundaries so characteristic of mainstream organizations, with their strict job descriptions, categorization of people according to rank, and restrictions on the flow of information.”
Posted by Caryn Rivadeneira on February 1, 2007 | Comments (7)
